Montreal has looked good thus far against the Rangers. New York is only a point behind Montreal, who sit sixth, so this game is one of those “four pointers” we often hear about. David Desharnais and Benoit Pouliot have looked sharp today, while the Habs patchwork defence valiantly tries to hold off Gaborik and co without James Wisniewski, out with the flu.

We’re three weeks from the trade deadline, and one thing has been abundantly clear in this Habs game: they’re too small.

You’ll have to forgive us in Buffalo for playing the “must win” card before every game for the next 3 ½ months, but that’s what happens when your team is practically staring into the face of a double-digit point deficit behind a playoff spot before Christmas.

Two weeks ago, the Sabres got a much needed home win against a San Jose Sharks team that had just scored an impressive win in Philadelphia the night before and was nearing the end of a grueling Eastern road trip.

A similar situation presents itself tonight, and the stakes are high again. The Anaheim Ducks won 3-0 in Boston last night, and 24 hours later the Sabres desperately need to prevent them from playing a successful encore. This game will be Anaheim’s fifth road gig in seven nights.

Aside from its own play, part of Buffalo’s problem in its playoff chase is the behavior of teams they have targeted ahead of them. If Atlanta, Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers aren’t for real then they all have a funny way of showing it. Those teams just refuse to come back to earth and Buffalo has lost ground to all of them, with a mediocre 5-4-1 record in its last 10 games.

Before the 2010-11 campaign began, I talked to numerous NHL personalities about what the ‘C’ meant these days and Rivet was one of the focuses. Teammate Jason Pominville told me that when Rivet arrived in 2008, he was a rarity on the team: a veteran willing to be vocal in the dressing room. The players took to him right away and voted him in as captain.

Two seasons later, I wonder about the optics of him being relegated to the sidelines. What does it mean for the leader of the team not to be on the bench during a game, imparting his wisdom to the youth or stabilizing a dicey situation? Maybe the Sabres are mature enough now that they can stand on their own without Rivet, but it doesn’t seem like a good situation to me.

The trend in the NHL recently has been for captains to be younger and often super-skilled. You’re never going to see Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews or Shea Weber benched. But based on the fact Toronto has eight legitimate NHL defensemen at its disposal right now, would it be crazy to think Phaneuf would be a healthy scratch one of these days if he continues to give the puck away or miss assignments?

How fitting that as we approach Halloween another soul is in the process of becoming an eternal resident of the Sabres haunted house of contentiously departed captains.

The Sabres blew an early 2-0 lead and lost 4-3 in overtime to the Atlanta Thrashers last night, but the big story in Buffalo is that Craig Rivet, who has worn the “C” since being elected by his teammates upon his arrival in 2008, was a healthy scratch for this game.

Granted, it won’t be as big an item on the hockey airwaves as an Ilya Kovalchuk benching. But in Buffalo, treatment of captains is kind of a sore subject. Just ask the man who made the decision, coach Lindy Ruff, who as a player in 1989 was benched and in turn relinquished his captaincy, effectively ending his time as a player in Buffalo.

Lindy Ruff said after today’s practice that he has no intention of benching Craig Rivet. Ruff sat Rivet for a large stretch of Tuesday night’s shootout loss to the Bruins at HSBC Arena. Rivet played just 4:03 after the first period against Boston. This hardly comes as a surprise. Ruff is understandably sensitive about sitting out his captain. He was benched as captain of the Sabres by Ted Sator.

But if Rivet didn’t have the “C” on his jersey, he probably would have watched a game from the press box by now.

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Craig Rivet revealed today that he’s dealing with an injured shoulder and the team’s captain is going to be out least two weeks while he tries to rehab the shoulder.

“It’s something that I tried to play with and it was really limiting what I could do on the ice,” Rivet said after taking part in practice in a limited role at HSBC Arena. “It’s really affecting my game so we took a different game plan. The pain issue, you can get through. But when it starts making it that much more difficult on the ice, you have to take a step back. We’re going to try to rehabilitate it.”

In a surprising choice, defenseman Craig Rivet was named captain of the Buffalo Sabres today, coach Lindy Ruff announced after practice in HSBC Arena.

“I’m obviously a little bit surprised,” Rivet said. “I’m new to the team and organization but .‚.‚. this means a lot to me today. Maybe I’ve been through a little more than most guys. It’s a credit to myself that I’ve persevered through a lot throughout my career. This is a great day. I’m happy to be part of a real strong unit of leadership on this team.”

“I’m not going to lie. I wasn’t happy about being moved,” Rivet said by telephone. “It wasn’t the point of me going to Buffalo. I didn’t care where I would have gone. I was leaving a place that I really enjoyed. I had a great setup, and now that’s done. Now, I have to start over. We’ve heard great things about Buffalo. We’re excited.”

At first, it sounded like Rivet was sincere about the trade before backing off with lip service about the town. Actually, he’s been doing his homework. He sees the Sabres going in the right direction with a core of young players. Along the way, he’s learning that his perception of Buffalo was actually a misperception.

“The only people to blame in this whole situation are the players,” said Rivet, who spent all or parts of 12 seasons in Montreal before coming to San Jose in a trade last February. “The coaching staff gives us a detailed system to go out and play. It’s not difficult. This team’s been playing it for a long time.

“Guys just aren’t prepared to work right now and there’s far too many guys that are not giving 100 percent and in turn, not giving us the success that we want.”